Tan Thanh Beach in Go Cong Township in the Mekong Delta Province of Tien Giang is not as famous as Vung Tau, Mui Ne, Nha Trang or Phu Quoc beaches but it boasts its own beauty with primitiveness and purity.
The beach is very wide and not ideal for swimming, but tourists can walk offshore for some kilometers while the water level just comes up to the ankles. Afternoon is the time for villagers and visitors to catch clams and have them boiled to eat on the spot.
That is why many cottages, which are just five meters high, stand on the sand for villagers to catch clams. And this is a very weird image in comparison with other beaches with their many resorts and umbrellas.
But it is not interesting to go to the sea without swimming. Tan Thanh Beach is often gentle and shallow, but when the tide rises, the waves are strong. However, to ensure tourists are safe while swimming, people have built a one-kilometer-long bridge. When the water rises high, swimmers can jump down from the bridge and swim into the bridge wall. When the water drops, the bridge becomes an ideal place for tourists to enjoy the wind, look into the distance and breathe the salted smell of the ocean.
“The beach is not too crowded like other beaches, so I really love to wander along the shallow beachside, keep silence to wait for the dawn and wallow into sunset. That is a wonderful sensation in Tan Thanh,” said Hoang Khanh, a visitor.
Once visiting Tan Thanh, tourists should stop by some wooden stilt houses covered with simple leaves along the beach to try indigenous specialties. The fleshy, good-sized clams are the main food specialty of Tan Thanh but it is also known for its crabs.
When the tide is high, tourists can ask for a ride in a basket boat to one of the many stilt houses in the sea where they farm clams. Tourists can climb into the houses to look out to sea and in the evening the twinkling mountains of Vung Tau Town in the north can be seen.
Visitors can spend a night in simple one-bed bungalows along the beach, which are illuminated with electric or oil lamps and priced at about VND100,000 per night. Behind them in the green forest, the wind whistles all night long.
Vietnam Travel News
A festival to worship the ancestor of Thanh Ha Pottery Village in Hoi An City, Quang Nam Province was held at Nam Dieu Temple in Thanh Ha Ward Wednesday morning on the tenth day of the lunar calendar.
From early morning, the villagers prepared for the feast to worship the ancestor at home to take part in the procession from Thanh Chiem Communal House to Nam Dieu Temple.
The worship ceremony was celebrated in a boisterous sound of gongs and drums surrounded by fragrant smells of aloe wood. Elders and villagers presented offerings to worship the ancestor of the pottery profession for his great contribution to build the village and to teach and preserve the traditional profession. People also prayed for good weather, peace and development for their career.
The festival includes traditional boat racing and many contests such as polishing pottery, shaping 12 animal designations, rice cooking in an earthen pot, breaking earthenware pots and singing folk songs.
The 500 hundred year old village is three kilometers from Hoi An City. The ancestors of this pottery village were the Thanh Hoa people coming to settle down.
Some famous and sophisticated products of the village are earthen pots, basins, teapots, jars, mortar and candlesticks. Artisans of Thanh Ha Village also made bricks and tiles to build many architectural constructions in ancient urban Hoi An. These artisans were invited by kings of the Nguyen dynasty to Hue to manipulate special products for the imperial palace’s daily activities. Since the 16th century, Thanh Ha Village has confirmed its prosperity and fame in pottery products.
Thanks to the development of Hoi An’s tourism, this traditional craft village has recovered with the great desire of artisans to revive it. Many designs and products are created to answer the demand of customers and the tourism sector such as to he in shapes of 12 animals, red-pottery lanterns, flower pottery bricks, bas-reliefs and masks to decorate walls and fences, in which some are exported to foreign countries.
Since 2001, Thanh Ha Pottery Village has been a tour for people visiting Hoi An City. Tourists not only contemplate the landscape but also shape and polish pottery products. About 10,000 domestic and international tourists visit the village each year.
The Tet holiday is coming nearer and hotels and restaurants in the city under the management of Saigontourist are introducing food and entertainment programs with many options for guests.
Phu Quoc Island, the peaceful tropical paradise in the warm turquoise waters of the Gulf of Thailand, is well known for its stunning beaches, untouched natural environment, splendid surroundings and fantastic scuba diving, snorkeling and beach massage services. This island district of Kien Giang Province is a favorite tourist destination for the Tet holidays. To meet the demand, Vietnam Airlines has increased its flight frequency and tour operators are offering many attractive programs promising a wonderful vacation.
The Saigon Phu Quoc Resort and Spa will host enjoyable and significant programs from February 13 to 16.
On February 13, or New Year’s Eve, tourists can show their talent for wrapping banh tet, banh chung or banh day (glutinous rice cake filled with green bean paste, pork fat and onion slices traditionally made at Tet) with
materials provided by the resort under the instruction of the resort’s chef. The price is VND999,000 per couple, inclusive of ingredients, a chef guide, a certificate and memory photos.
On that special night, tourists can also celebrate at an old house in a fishing village. Here, tourists can wrap and boil banh tet, prepare a fruit tray worshipping ancestors and pick lucky buds for the new year. Tickets are VND2.5 million per person, inclusive of bus transfer, tour guide and mineral water.
For the first time, Suoi Cat tourist site will organize a flower festival in Phan Thiet City to welcome the Tet holiday next month.
The festival will open on the first day of Tet (February 14) with daisies, orchids and apricot and peach blossoms. With an investment of nearly Vị trí đặt quảng cáoVND300 million, the Suoi Cat tourist site will be ablaze in the multicolored spectacle of 20,000 flower pots and a flower “dragon”.
The festival will also feature performances of national record makers such as Xuan Dieu who can play the flute, drink milk and play darts with his nose, Kim Tuan who can peel off coconut covers, pull cars with his teeth and lie on nails, and Bao Cuong who can gulp scissors, chew hot coal and break bricks with his head. Tourists can also join folk games.
*Binh Thuan authorities have licensed Saigon Investment Company to develop the Sentosa Villa project in Mui Ne Ward, Phan Thiet City.
The VND260 billion project will cover about 160,639 square meters and feature a high-rise building, three-star hotel, beach park, overpass and trading services.
Early Tet bookings on the rise
Tour operators in the country have received early bookings from overseas Vietnamese returning home for Tet (Lunar New Year holidays). Vietravel has reported an even bigger number of 3,600 overseas Vietnamese tourists during the holiday.
Early Tet bookings on the rise
Tour operators in the country have received early bookings from overseas Vietnamese returning home for Tet (Lunar New Year holidays). Vietravel has reported an even bigger number of 3,600 overseas Vietnamese tourists during the holiday.
Vietnam Travel in BriefJournalists get familiar with Da Nang
Nine journalists from HCM City are making a familiarisation trip to the central city of Da Nang between December 18 and 20.
Phong Nha Cave in Quang Binh.
The trip, organised by Da Nang Tourism Promotion Centre, is taking journalists from English-language newspapers and magazines to tourist attractions in Da Nang, such as the Champa Museum, Son Tra Pennisula, Han Market, Ba Na Resort, Marble Mountain and others.
Taiwan airline resumes Da Nang flights
Taiwanese carrier TransAsia has said it would resume direct flights to Da Nang on December 26, four years after the service was suspended. It plans to operate an Airbus 321-132 aircraft between Da Nang and Taipei every Wednesday and Saturday. Direct flights from Osaka and Hong Kong will also begin to Da Nang this month.
Saigontourist prepares for Tet
New air route to Cambodia tipped
Viet Nam and Cambodia are planning to open two routes linking the coastal city of Sihanoukville in Cambodia with Phu Quoc Island and Can Tho city in Viet Nam.
According to the Secretariat of Civil Aviation of Cambodia (SSCA), Vietnam Airlines and SSCA are conducting a feasibility study for the two new routes. The chairman of the Cambodian Association of Travel Agents, Ho Vandy, said both Phu Quoc Island in Kien Giang Province and Can Tho city were attractive tourism centres in Viet Nam. Once launched, the weekly flights will help transport a large number of foreign tourists to Cambodia, he added.